Patched round ball for .75 caliber cannon?

[Doc Brown.]

Hi good people of the GBO. I have a question about patching round balls for .75 caliber smooth bore cannons.
 
.735 round ball. In a .750 bore Should it be patched for accuracy and is it safe to do when done with proper powder charges? I know it's not recommended for larger bore cannons but haven't heard to much here about it in smaller caliber cannons. Any safety tips I would appreciate greatly.

[rampa room artillery]

no NO NO no NO and no again,  why would you want to patch the ball?  patching is only for when you are shooting a round ball in a rifled barrel. so you can engage the rifling at loading or whats called a R.E.A.L.   a round ball floats in a smooth bore barrel when fired and never really touches the side walls.  if you do wish to keep the ball from rolling out the bore when shooting down hill use lube or you can patch with aluminum foil. so the ball doesnt roll. but to patch the ball to make the ball tighter in the bore is not going to gain you anything.   




     Rick Bryan

[Double D]

A differing opinion.  I use a patched ball in my East India Company  Pattern C and  Pattern F smooth bore 75 cal.  muskets on top of 120 grains of FFg, I see no reason to not patch a .75  cal cannon...I wouldn't use 120 grains of FFg however.  Your cannon would recoil so hard it would be more secondary projectile.  In both my muskets patched balls shot better than wadded balls.

Start at 50 grains and work up.

 

[dominick]

I think that 75 caliber would probably be the transition point where any larger bore size would not be patched and would be loaded as you would a full size cannon.  For the small caliber cannons under 75 cal., I used both ways.  I used the patch the ball method and also used the same method as the Revolutionary soldier.  Load powder, ball, small wad of paper, then use rammer.  The wad of paper in the Rev war soldier era was usually the pre-prepared paper cartridges he carried to battle.  I have not found any noticable difference in accuracy but this was with a 36 caliber barrel that was 8" in length. 

[megajoules]

Dockholidaiy has raised some interesting points re smaller bore cannon. May I suggest that readers have a look at www.ncagb.com  [the website of the National Cannon Association of Great Britain] where photo and videos a range of small cannon can be seen.
With regard to powder loads the site has a section titled; How Much Powder!! ~ an abstract is shown below which is self explanatory
It has been said that specifying a Black Powder charge is an art derived from experience, not a science. However, we have now added a charge calculator which might be of use. Have a look here and see. It’s not a new idea, but could be useful to you. Use this with appropriate caution and be mindful of the condition of YOUR barrel..
I shoot a 20mm/0.787” x13.5” cannon with a 675grn patched lead ball with 60 grns of powder, this has been established through trial and error, more powder just doesn’t burn in the barrel. 60 grns give the a good balance of accuracy, noise ,smoke flame and recoil .The barrel (s) has been proofed and stamped by The Birmingham Proof House for around 140 grns of powder  which simply over the top in a 14” barrel. Reference to the powder calculator will show this and the formulae shown will provide hours of enjoyment and comment on the range.

Patches: This has become a matter of choice, Jeff Tanner [in the UK] supplies a range of thickness and cannoneers establish the best for their cannon and cast ball [he also makes the ball moulds]. The interesting element that has emerged from the shooting is how wet is the patch as its often lubricated with cheap Olive Oil?~~~  Initially this may seem peculiar but if the patch is‘wet’ then the action of ‘easing‘ the ball and patch down the barrel seems to squeeze out the excess lubricant and kill a layer of Powder in the barrel, causing erratic variation in powder load and accuracy.

For those not used to shooting smaller cannon, Double D comments regarding recoil are extremely important as the velocity /energy  of an un restrained cannon on discharge has to be seen to be believed, I would recommend  restraint, the NCAGB.Com website videos show a range of methods .

For fuses used in the UK try Wireless fireworks at www.wirelessfireworks.co.uk

I have attached a photo of a patched 675grn ball/60grns powder shot at 25yrds against steel plate..

[KABAR2]

Funny but I have tried it both ways with smooth bores..... and yes less powder can be the key to accuracy in both cases....... one example I will give is with an 1858 smooth bore carbine made for the Indian service with very crude sites balls made with a soapstone mold not perfiectly round..... un patched with a charge of 55 gr FFg I could keep all the ball in a dinner plate at 100 yrds.... if I went to 75 or 100 grains the balls were all over the place..... I have tried pached ball in small cannon it works as far as accuracy improvment but I actually prefer making sabots for the ball and shooting them that way....